Innovation Labs & Spaces Archives

Video Views from the Valley: How AI, Digital & Innovation are Converging
July 10, 2024
As part of our 2024 event, Leveraging AI, we curated a list of speakers who could share concrete ways their companies have begun experimenting with AI. This video features Dušan Vuksanovic, VP, Cyber Security + Innovation, Swisscom Outpost; Paul Konasewich, General Manager, PACCAR Innovation Center; Kinh Tieu, Senior Principal Engineer,...
Article What Walmart Loses with the Closure of its Store No. 8 Incubator
February 15, 2024 | By Matt Mueller, Contributing Columnist
Walmart's CFO argues that innovation is now “fully embedded” in the organization. Do you buy that argument? Food and retail innovation veteran Matt Mueller doesn't...
Article Walmart is Shutting Down its Store No. 8 Innovation Lab. Here’s What That Means for Other Corporate Innovators.
January 26, 2024 | By Scott Kirsner
On January 23rd, we brought together a group of four retail industry veterans — and one retail-focused venture capitalist — to unpack the news that the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart, had decided to shut down its primary innovation group, Store No. 8. What are the important take-aways for innovators and...
Research Report Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2023
February 6, 2023
Get InnoLead's definitive report on innovation inside big organizations, with survey data, interviews, and advice from your peers related to innovation budgets, teams, reporting structure, activities, and more.
Resource A Beginner’s Guide to Innovation Spaces
January 25, 2023 | By Tyler Smith
Our latest PDF download offers help defining innovation spaces; understanding the pros and cons of virtual and physical spaces; and gives experts' advice about setting up an innovation space.
Podcast Podcast: What’s Changing About Innovation Spaces?
January 24, 2023 | By Tyler Smith
With input from leaders at CME Group, AARP, and Entergy, we dive into four big questions: What is an innovation space? What are the pros and cons of physical versus virtual spaces? What are the qualities great spaces possess? And what common mistakes do people make in setting them up...
Article How Autodesk Has Been Evolving Its Technology Centers in the US and Canada
September 26, 2022
Prior to COVID, Autodesk’s Technology Centers in Boston, San Francisco, and Toronto had been inviting in artists, entrepreneurs, and makers to work on projects or new ventures, in the hopes that they could help Autodesk better understand its future customers. “The mission was really about how will things be made...
On Demand Webcast Centers of Excellence: How Companies Like LEGO, GlaxoSmithKline, and Bang & Olufsen Innovate
March 24, 2022
In this Master Class replay, Jay Peters discusses the success factors that drive innovation; examined the keys to creating a “center of excellence”; and highlighted lessons from companies such as Lego, GlaxoSmithKline, and more.
Article Should You Close Your Physical Innovation Lab and Open One in the Metaverse?
March 11, 2022 | By Scott Kirsner
A recent conversation among InnoLead members spent less time on brick-and-mortar innovation labs — and more time discussing the possibilities of bringing people together for meetings and collaboration in virtual reality, and some of the training and support hassles that produces.
Resource How Companies are Using or Redesigning Physical Innovation Spaces, and How They’re Creating Persistent Virtual Spaces for Innovation
February 23, 2022
In February 2022, we convened an InnoLead members' meeting on Zoom to talk about how companies were using their physical innovation spaces, or experimenting with virtual ones.
Article Inside Inspire Brands’ Ghost Kitchen and Innovation Center
February 3, 2022 | By Kate Katz
Just a year after opening its innovation center, Inspire Brands — owner of Arby’s, Sonic, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and Buffalo Wild Wings — launched the first multibrand “ghost kitchen” in Atlanta. InnoLead spoke with Vans Nelson, VP of Restaurant Operations, Innovation, and Profitability, about staying ahead of tech trends in...
Article Entergy VP on Driving Sustainability and Running an Innovation Lab
February 2, 2022 | By Alexander MacDougall
Michael Cross explains how Entergy’s KeyString Labs is set up; the need to start with concrete, near-term results; and how his team stays close to customer needs.
Article Perkins School for the Blind CEO on Why the S-Curve Matters for Nonprofits
January 6, 2022 | By Alexander MacDougall
The CEO of the Boston-based nonprofit Power talks about customer-centricity; how it seeks to connect tech companies with visually-impaired users; and the importance of understanding the S-curve as you make the case for continued innovation.
Article Inside ESPN’s New Virtual Innovation Center
September 28, 2021 | By Collin Robisheaux
In its 42-year history, ESPN has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation and technology in the sports realm — from cable television to TikTok. Here’s what they’re hoping to achieve with a new virtual innovation center.
Video The Year of Athleisure, with Lululemon’s Chief Science Officer
March 24, 2021 | By Kaitlin Milliken
Lululemon’s Chief Science Officer, Tom Waller shares why 2020 created lines out of their store doors and how the retailer keeps customers close when building new products.

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